Miscellaneous AEUG questions

[doghunter1]

1. Where is it mentioned Char, Apolly, and Roberto joined AEUG with fake identities that involved being Earth Federation soldiers?

2. Is it true Char's red and black Rick Dias was actually Johnny Ridden's, and that Char was just borrowing it?

[Deathzealot]

2. What. No where did you hear that. Char, or rather Quatro, was the test pilot for the Rick Dias since it was developed if I remember my lore correctly. However the Red Zeta from one of the Evolve episodes, too lazy right now to check, was made for Ridden but instead is used by a Newtype Rookie Pilot.

[AmuroNT1]

Ridden's official MSV profile said that he went MIA at the Battle of A Baoa Qu and was considered dead; it wasn't until much more recently, with stories like Evolve and the MSV-R manga, that they came up with the idea of him having survived.

[Dark Duel]

Another note - just nitpicking here, but: Char's Rick Dias is NOT red-and-black. It is two-tone red, with parts being a very dark red(looks almost brown in some shots), but not black.

[AmuroNT1]

Another note - just nitpicking here, but: Char's Rick Dias is NOT red-and-black. It is two-tone red, with parts being a very dark red(looks almost brown in some shots), but not black.

If you go by the paint colors listed in the MG manual, the dark color is red-brown, heavy on the brown.

[Deathzealot]

and wasn't there a bit where Char was test-piloted the Rick Dias in a simulation and he goes against his old Zaku thanks to someone reprogramming the Simulator or something like that.

[AmuroNT1]

That was a different Evolve short; his response to the "prank" was to fire some warning shots at the programmers, resulting in a written apology (a call-back to Evolve 2 where Kamille had to write an apology for destroying an Anaheim camera drone during a field test of the Mk-II). At the end of the short, the crew offers a semi-apology by sending a simulation of the original Gundam while Char is testing the Hyaku-Shiki.

[toysdream]

It's unclear how involved Char was with the testing of the Rick Dias. One of the old M-MSV stories in SD Club magazine had him test-piloting the Gamma Gundam version, but in Tomino's Zeta Gundam novels, he hasn't laid eyes on the Rick Dias until he arrives at Sweetwater to join the Argama for its mission to Green Noa. At this point, four Rick Dias units have been loaded aboard the Argama, and one of them has already been painted red (which is a bit suspicious). Char objects to the "Gamma Gundam" nickname, and they rename it "Rick Dias" at the last moment instead.

Color-wise, the paint mix varies from one kit to another. In the HG-UC kit, the main body color is 70% Red Madder and 30% Orange, and the darker parts are 50% Red-Brown and 50% Black. That's a bit darker than the original 1980s kit, which was basically just Red and Red-Brown - the same colors used in the original MG MS-06R-2 kit.

Going by Gundam Evolve episode 9, it certainly seems plausible that Johnny Ridden could have been involved in test-piloting the Rick Dias, since as of late U.C. 0087 Anaheim has prepared a custom Zeta Gundam in these colors for a test pilot named "Johnny." (As well as a gold-plated Zeta Gundam for his fellow test pilot Shin Matsunaga.) On the other hand, this conflicts with the "Return of Johnny Ridden" comic, in which somebody who appears to be an amnesiac Johnny Ridden has been working for the Federation Survey Service under the alias "Led Wayline" from at least U.C. 0086 through 0090.

Personally, I'd go for Gundam Evolve over the comic - it's a bit closer to being official by Sunrise standards, and nothing actually seems to be happening in the comic.

-- Mark

[doghunter1]

It's unclear how involved Char was with the testing of the Rick Dias. One of the old M-MSV stories in SD Club magazine had him test-piloting the Gamma Gundam version, but in Tomino's Zeta Gundam novels, he hasn't laid eyes on the Rick Dias until he arrives at Sweetwater to join the Argama for its mission to Green Noa. At this point, four Rick Dias units have been loaded aboard the Argama, and one of them has already been painted red (which is a bit suspicious). Char objects to the "Gamma Gundam" nickname, and they rename it "Rick Dias" at the last moment instead.

Color-wise, the paint mix varies from one kit to another. In the HG-UC kit, the main body color is 70% Red Madder and 30% Orange, and the darker parts are 50% Red-Brown and 50% Black. That's a bit darker than the original 1980s kit, which was basically just Red and Red-Brown - the same colors used in the original MG MS-06R-2 kit.

Going by Gundam Evolve episode 9, it certainly seems plausible that Johnny Ridden could have been involved in test-piloting the Rick Dias, since as of late U.C. 0087 Anaheim has prepared a custom Zeta Gundam in these colors for a test pilot named "Johnny." (As well as a gold-plated Zeta Gundam for his fellow test pilot Shin Matsunaga.) On the other hand, this conflicts with the "Return of Johnny Ridden" comic, in which somebody who appears to be an amnesiac Johnny Ridden has been working for the Federation Survey Service under the alias "Led Wayline" from at least U.C. 0086 through 0090.

Personally, I'd go for Gundam Evolve over the comic - it's a bit closer to being official by Sunrise standards, and nothing actually seems to be happening in the comic.

-- Mark

Thanks. What about the source of Apolly and Roberto being ex-Zeon soldiers joining the AEUG with fake identities pertaining to Earth Federation personnel? I thought Zeta itself made no claims on that, because if it did, Haman would have recognized them, and the fact those two being ex-Zeon came from Bandai-endorsed products, like Char's Deleted Affair and some Gihren's Greed games?

Also, got my PM?

[Kratos]

Thanks. What about the source of Apolly and Roberto being ex-Zeon soldiers joining the AEUG with fake identities pertaining to Earth Federation personnel? I thought Zeta itself made no claims on that, because if it did, Haman would have recognized them

I dunno why Haman would have necessarily recognized them - Zeon may have been the smaller of the two factions, but it still had a LOT of soldiers, and Haman herself was quite young at the time of the OYW (and the early years in Axis). I think I vaguely recall them being in CDA; do they interact with Haman to any great degree in that manga? If not, then it's just as plausible that she'd forget a couple randoms as it is she'd remember them (especially if they're not going out of their way to remind Haman they'd met). Does it feature them meeting her in any other of the works where they're depicted as ex-Zeon?

[Zeonista]

The best explanation for Roberto & Apoli (for me anyway) is from Char's Deleted Affair. The AEUG identities are aliases along the lines of "Quattro Bagina", and their real names sound similar but are quite different. The manga introduces them as ZMF MS veterans who recognize Char Aznable when they are assigned to his command at Axis.

[Brave Fencer Kirby]

Of course, that doesn't quite mesh with the fact that Apolly tags along with the AEUG diplomatic mission to Axis midway through Zeta, and is quite vocally surprised at the appearance of Mineva. (He says something like "Hey, it's just a kid!" and has to be shushed by someone else, IIRC.) That plus the fact that he looks quite surprised when "Quattro" is outed as Char suggests that he -- and by extension Roberto -- were exactly what they claimed to be, EFF veterans who jumped ship to join the AEUG when Quattro did.

[toysdream]

Good point. Apolly seems as surprised as anyone by the sight of Mineva Zabi.

Also, there's no point in the anime - even when Char, Apolly, and Roberto are alone - where they make any reference to a shared history. Compare to Char's aide Cignan in episode 8, who greets him as "Captain" and says "You're still Captain Char Aznable to me." If Apolly and Roberto were also recycled Zeon comrades, you'd think this would likewise be indicated in dialogue at some point.

-- Mark

[AmuroNT1]

Video games sure love running with the idea though...in Gundam vs Zeta Gundam and several G Gens, you'll get Roberto and Apolly as Char's wingmen during OYW segments. That may be how the idea started spreading.

[Captain Anonymous]

During the course of episode 9 of Zeta Gundam, when Char is given his Hyaku Shiki, Roberto (I think it was Roberto, it's been a while), states that the color of the machine that Quattro pilots always becomes popular, as a possible hint that they might at least know his identity.


They do state during the first episode they did fight in the OYW, so they are veterans.

[doghunter1]

New questions:

1. In regards to recruiting personnel, how are they on recruiting people who deserted back in the One Year War, like say, Cucuruz Doan, as provided in some Gihren's Greed games?

2. Any reason why there were no Karaba troops when the AEUG ransacked Jaburo?

[Deathzealot]

1. Don't know really.

2. That is a question I ask myself many times, and no there is no reason at all really. I asked pretty much that same question a couple years ago.

[AmuroNT1]

Gihren's Greed is a video game, so what happens in it really doesn't reflect accurately on the content of Zeta. In the example you gave, Doan rejoining ANY military would be massively out of character for him, but since it's a game it can happen.

[doghunter1]

That is a question I ask myself many times, and no there is no reason at all really. I asked pretty much that same question a couple years ago

Thanks

Gihren's Greed is a video game, so what happens in it really doesn't reflect accurately on the content of Zeta. In the example you gave, Doan rejoining ANY military would be massively out of character for him, but since it's a game it can happen

I wasn't just referring to Doan. I just used him as an example. When I meant "who deserted back in the One Year War," I meant people like Shiro Amada and Aina Sahalin.

[AmuroNT1]

Okay, I misunderstood your initial question and thought you were asking how it worked story-wise rather than "Is it possible to do it?"

In general, Gihren's Greed only really lets you "recruit" characters if you take steps to defy the official version of events; for example, if you prevent the events of 0080 from playing out as they did, you can potentially get Bernie to defect to the Federation. This is because GG takes a much wider view of the conflicts involved and doesn't tend to get down to a really personal level of interaction. So it doesn't really work like standard strat/sim games (like say Final Fantasy Tactics) where you can go to a specific menu and recruit people, or like Super Robot Wars where you just have certain encounters and conversations taking place. With the specific example of Shiro joining the AEUG, that only happens if there's an event path that leads to him sticking in the military, or an alternate version of the AEUG with more characters. If you simply start up a game in the Zeta era, there's no way to track Shiro down to his cabin in the woods and ask him to join you.